Naked Lunch

by William S. Burroughs

Book Overview

A reprint of the controversial 1959 novel about narcotics addict Bill Lee, his travels in search of drugs, and his eventual descent into the nightmarish fantasy world of Interzone.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802132952
• ISBN13: 9780802132956
• Release Date: January 1992
• Publisher: Grove/Atlantic
• Length: 232 Pages
• Weight: 0.71 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

don’t do drugs kids

i honestly have no idea what i read but it definitely made its point of steering me away from substance abuse

Provocative

In no way to I intend on dissuading anybody from reading this, but this text was at times very disturbing. The rawness of this book made it an amazing read.

Good book, did not receive the version I purchased

Beware, you may not receive the edition you bought

A Counterculture Literary Classic: Essential Burroughs

What else can I say, other than that this is "the" book that has brought William S. Burroughs the most fame(infamy?) and glory. Most people interested in Beat Literature choose Kerouac for insight, but I feel that Burroughs gets to the root of the Beatniks' most defining element: Drug use/abuse. His style is unrelenting. His prose harsh and ragged, not unlike himslef for some 15 odd years of his life in which he lived as a junky. I urge the reader to not read this book in sequence from beginning to end as a traditional novel. Instead, read a chapter or two at a time. Then, set it down and leave it alone for a day. The next day, return and continue reading. Each pargraph; each page is a message unto itself. Burroughs uses a rehab center in a place called Interzone, the character William Lee, and a sadistic orgy to help convey the over-all idea that the junky is a sad and tragic individual. But, what makes the junky so tragic is not his position in life. It is the sad fact that he put himself there in the first place. And, to spite himself, the junky's body must continue this act even though his mind says no. It is sad that this book has not been given the credit that it is due. Only at the end of his life did Mr. Burroughs begin to reap the rewards of his, and his comrades' work. As though he couldn't stand another minute in the world of the straight and narrow without a friend(Allen Ginsberg, the last Beat), he died after a life of extreme hardships and bittersweet success. Needless to say, this book sums up Burroughs' early life on the streets before any real intimations of success. It is not for the faint of heart, nor is it for those of you who prefer "popular" literature. It is for those of us who seek the truth, and read books about certain topics for an element of reality.